Pure of Heart
by gofishstories
Summary: Dear Diary, Sometimes, chasing dreams causes people to do some crazy things. The chase for knowledge can lead to another chase, then another, then another. Sometimes, you just have to know when to give up, or risk losing it all. That's how most people feel. I, however, am not most people.
1. Chapter 1: 100 COMPLETE

My last hope arced toward my target, halting suddenly in midair as if trapped in an invisible hold. _How?_ I wondered in shock at the floating Master Ball. Mewtwo, in its heavily injured state, had still managed to stop the ball from colliding with itself using its weakened powers. That was all I needed, for the ball to have only touched its body. The creature screamed, the sound ricocheting off the cave walls, and the ball exploded into a majestic display of pink and purple shrapnel. The ultimate catching device had failed me, leaving me with only one option left.

I hesitantly reached into my bag, fumbling around for what I needed. With my other hand, I wiped the sweat beads forming on my forehead. I felt some out of place hairs, and swept them back into my ponytail. Maybe, I should've worn a headband, I pondered. Shaking my head, I cleared away the thought, No, I have to focus. Pulling the last measly Great Ball out of my bag, I ordered my Charizard over to me with a whistle.

The Pokémon snapped his head around from Mewtwo to me. His eyes were narrowed and his fangs were barred. Opening his majestic wings, he soared over to me in a heartbeat. I jumped onto the Pokémon's back as he whipped by in midair and latched on with my free hand, all while I mentally prepared myself for the daring maneuver that had to work. Or else, this trip through Cerulean Cave had been for naught.

"Charizard, I need you to fly at Mewtwo straight on," I explained. "Let it begin to charge an attack. Then, circle around its back and hover for as long as you can before flying around to face it again." The Pokémon nodded at my commands and began his part of my plan.

We swooped down toward Mewtwo, allowing the wild Pokémon to begin its future sight attack. It had solely been using that attack for the past few minutes of the battle, which led me to believe that the psychic type was out of power on its other moves. This battle had continued for too long, and both of us were out of options. At the last second, Charizard dipped out of the way of Mewtwo's attack; the sheer power of the move whooshed by me, leaving my ears ringing.

At the height of Charizard's flight, I jumped off of his back. My Pokémon cried out as he felt my weight leave him, but I knew what I was doing leaving nothing to worry about. Mewtwo, not expecting such a daring—but also dumb—move, kept its eyes glued to Charizard as I fell behind its back. The Pokémon had no time to turn and face me once it realized I was no longer riding on Charizard. I threw the Great Ball in the creature's brief moment of obliviousness. Only its eyes had caught up with my motion as the ball struck it on the head.

Charizard and I were breathing heavily now, watching as red energy swirled into the contraption I had just thrown. My right leg throbbed with pain now, my microsecond diagnosis had determined that it was at least sprained; that was a best-case scenario considering the distance I had fallen. The energy had now finished its spectacular display and the last traces of Mewtwo disappeared into thin air. This last Great Ball-and for that matter, last Poké Ball-had to catch it, or else this was the end of my hopes and dreams. The ball dropped harshly to the ground, making a hollow pinging sound when it hit. The ball shook violently.

 _One,_ I counted in my head.

It shook again. _Two._

It hesitated to shake a third time, and the metal bolts that were tightened into the sides of the ball seemed like they were going to explode off at any moment. I could hear the sharp metal on metal grinding sound. My heart beat faster as I watched the bolts begin to back out.

Reluctantly, the ball shook again. _Three. Come on, come on!_

Charizard and I watched on bated breath for the final signal that the Pokémon was captured. He ducked his head to view the ball straight on, as if getting a better angle would allow the ball to have a greater chance to capture the Pokémon . I held my hands clenched in tight fists close to my body. I bit my lip so hard that it was beginning to hurt. It felt like one little movement might have broken the spell that seemed to be cast on the area.

Finally, little white stars jumped out from the top of the ball. The red and blue sphere sat perfectly still on the ground in front of me. I deemed it safe to breathe again and let air escape then refill my lungs. "We did it!" I screamed as loud as I could. The pain in my leg seemed to fade away in my moment of triumph and instead joy filled me.

Charizard jumped at the sudden noise, whipping around to prepare for another attack. He flared his tail's flame while growling in the back of his throat at me. "Woah buddy, don't hurt me," I eased my tense partner. "It's just, well," I began calmly, but excitement exploded through me again. "We did it!" I limped as fast as I could over to my partner to embrace him in a hug. He flinched away from me at first, but soon I felt his wings wrap around my body and his head set down gently on mine.

I pulled away again, remembering the newly caught Pokémon on the ground mere feet from us. "How could I forget?" I said as I swooped my hand down the grab the ball. The metal was still warm; it had yet to cool down from its intense battle to keep the beast inside its walls.

I looked down at the ball, knowing that I couldn't see what was in the contraption, but I could still feel the raw energy of the monster that now resided inside. I grabbed my Pokédex from the clip on my bag and looked at the new entry. I felt warm inside when I noticed the message "100% COMPLETE" at the top of the computer's display. I had truly caught them all. The feeling of joy flared even higher inside of me. I typed up a quick summary of what I knew about Mewtwo from Team Rocket's notes about it.

 _#150 Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon  
It was created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments._

"I feel bad for the Pokémon used to create this guy," I said solemnly. "Team Rocket probably erased so many innocent lives to create their ultimate weapon." I drew the ball in close to my body in the closest position that I could get to a hug with a ball. "But not anymore, I'm going to make sure you get the love and attention you deserve. Just because you were created from the countless sacrifices of other Pokémon, doesn't mean you don't deserve love."

I looked over my shoulder to Charizard, waving him towards me with one hand while holding the ball in the other. "Let's get out of here, I need to get home and show this and my Pokédex to Oak as soon as possible."

Charizard waddled over to me as fast as he could. I noticed he had quite a few scrapes and scratches on his body, and I also saw that his breathing was shallow and ragged. I probably didn't look or sound too much better. "Don't worry," I told him, "We can stop at a Pokémon Center on the way home. You look like you need it."

He bent down, allowing me to climb onto his back. It would be a tight squeeze, flying on Charizard to get out of Cerulean Cave, but I trusted my partner enough to fly us to safety. I stroked his head as I settled onto his back. Once in place, I gently gave him a kick in his side. His powerful wings unfolded, and we took to the air. After rushing up to meet the sky outside of the cave, I pulled my diary out and began a new entry.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Today I completed the Pokédex Professor Oak gave me. I was ecstatic to see the "100% Complete" message at the top of the machine. Although my Pokédex journey is complete, I'm still some ways away from the end of my entire journey. I have yet to make it back to Pallet Town. As I am writing this, I am flying away from Cerulean Cave on Charizard after completing the great challenge of capturing the rogue Mewtwo. It was a worthy opponent, I would even say it was a tougher battle than facing the entirety of the Elite Four; and that was a challenge in and of itself! I just can't wait to get home, rest, and prove to Professor Oak my completion of his task._

Charizard soared over Kanto as I finished up writing. I wrote every time I did something noteworthy, so I treasured this diary greatly. It was a spectacular record filled with my adventures. I flipped back through the pages, reliving my journey as I went. Reading about picking my starter, Charmander, filled me with the same excited and nervious energy I had that day. Charizard was so cute and tiny back then. I felt proud as I remembered my victorious first gym battle and how tough it was with a fire starter. Remembering the first time I defeated those Team Rocket jerks brought a smile to my face. Getting the final badge, facing off with the Elite Four, and capturing the legendary birds were some of the biggest highlights in the book. It filled me with awe to look back on those battles. They had all happened so close together in time that the memories blurred together in one giant action sequence like something I would see on TV. It filled me with joy to see how far I had come. And now, I had the unbelievable opportunity to write about capturing Mewtwo.

I couldn't help but thumb through the rest of the empty pages. So few pages filled, and so many more blank ones to go. I placed the pen back in its place on the front cover then placed the diary in my bag that currently hung around Charizard's neck. I still had Mewtwo's ball on my belt instead of in my bag. It just didn't feel right to put it away yet. After all, it was such a monumental catch.

"What do you think we're gonna do next?" I asked Charizard while scratching his head. The fire type roared a response as he continued to guide us back home. "It can't get much better than this," I gestured to Mewtwo's ball as I spoke. "But then again, we still have so many more pages to fill in our diary. Guess we'll just have to wait and find out what comes our way.

"All I know is that I want you by my side the entire time." I hugged Charizard around the neck, and he growled softly in return. The future looked bright for both of us.


	2. Chapter 2: Shadows in the Night

_Dear Diary,_

 _I arrived home less than a week ago, and I'm already becoming a local celebrity. It's a bit nerve wrecking, but I'm becoming more and more used to it. It still feels weird to have local kids run up to me and ask for my autograph though. I've known these kids my entire life, and they now think I'm some kind of Pokémon catching god. And it's not just to my hometown either, but the entire region too. Photographers and journalists catch me at every step outside of my house. I'll be shopping with my mom and then, all of a sudden, I'll hear a reporter start up their speech behind me, then go through their laundry list of questions that I have to refuse. It's weird to say the least, and I almost wish that the fame would stop sometimes."The Most Successful Teenager in the Region" was a popular headline to describe my achievements. It gives a certain pressure that I have to live up to now. Especially since the biggest news stations have scheduled an interview with me and Professor Oak. They're dying to hear something from the girl who captured every Pokémon in Kanto. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that yet, I've never been on live TV before, much less been the center of it!_

 _Most importantly though, I showed Professor Oak the Dex. He was overjoyed when he heard I had completed it, and that I had managed to catch Mewtwo as well. He asked me to come into his lab the day after I had returned—he respected that I would want the day to rest. The next day, I pored over every detail of my adventures and every Pokémon species that I had seen as he furiously worked on my Pokédex. It was fun as I reminded myself of everything I had seen. It was an amazing journey that I wish I could live all over again. Before I left, the professor asked that I leave Mewtwo there so that he could hopefully find a way to make it less aggressive. He nicknamed his program "Pokémon Anger Management." I couldn't help but laugh at the idea, but he insisted it worked. He told me that all starter Pokémon go through it. Wild Pokémon can be dangerous, and they have to get used to people before being handed off to children. I agreed reluctantly, even after hearing that it wouldn't do anything bad to Mewtwo; the last thing that creature probably wanted to see was the inside of another lab. Oak told me not to worry and promised me I could take Mewtwo home after the interview next week. In the meantime, he let me keep my Pokédex after uploading its data to his computer. That way I still had my trophy, and he had all the information he could ever want about the first one hundred and fifty Pokémon. Life is great right now, and I couldn't ask for anything more_.

* * *

I awoke with a start to the beeping noise of my alarm clock. I closed my eyes for a moment, begging to no one in particular for only a few more moments of rest. But alas, the noise did not yield to my silent pleas. Groaning, I tossed my sheets off, shivering at the sudden rush of cold air that hit me. My pajamas did little to shield me from the sudden chill of the late autumn morning.

My fist came down on my alarm clock the same way it did every morning. I was bound to hit the off button with the amount of area my fist covered, and it helped get out my pent-up rage at the horrid device. It was a win-win scenario. Or, it usually was; this morning was not as lucky. The alarm now beeped with two different sounds that seemed to amplify each other. This was not a great start to my morning.

"Oh, come on! This isn't fair," I groaned as I turned my lamp on to deal with my faulty clock. I grabbed the device from my night stand and clicked the button on top. The noise ceased, but I couldn't help but notice something off about the display.

It currently read 2:41 AM. _Odd,_ I thought. I checked what time the alarm was set for, so that I would wake up when I needed to in order to get ready for my interview. Sure enough, it wasn't supposed to go off until 6:30 AM. To make the situation even more odd, there was still an alarm going off somewhere in my room.

I searched the clock, flipping it multiple different ways to see where the noise was coming from. It wasn't coming from my clock at all, nor from my cellphone—I had already looked at that. There were no active alarms, and no one was trying to text or call me. The only notifications were from Tweetster, and those were muted due to the massive influx of new followers and messages. I looked around my room slowly searching for the continuing source of the noise.

The realization hit me suddenly when I noticed a light blinking on the other side of my room. The sound wasn't that of an alarm, it was the sound my Pokédex made whenever it sensed an unknown Pokémon. I looked to my dresser where I had set the machine, and sure enough, the registration light was blinking with a new notification.

"What the hell?" I said as I sprang up to my feet next to my bed. I strode over to where the Pokédex was sitting and picked it up. I half expected the light to go off when I touched it, like it was a technical error or something due to Oak tampering with it recently. But no, the light continued to flash, urging me to check what it had just seen. Usually it only beeped and flashed twice when it detected a new Pokémon; the computer continued to make noise despite already having gone off for more than a few minutes now. Panic began to take hold in me as I started to wake up more and I became aware of what the situation meant.

Before I opened the face of the Pokédex, I tip toed over to my window to check if it was closed. The Pokédex only registered Pokémon that were within a certain radius, and that radius only extended for line of sight. Meaning that the Pokémon was in my room. The situation became more disturbing when I confirmed that the window was closed and locked with plenty of undisturbed dust sitting on its sill. I looked outside suspiciously from left to right, then did a double check in each direction again before closing my blinds. I whipped around to face my dresser and still beeping Pokédex.

As a precaution, I grabbed Charizard's ball from my desk. The fire type would barely fit in my room with his size, but something had to protect me from whatever was intruding if a fight arose. Plus, I felt safer while holding his ball, like nothing could hurt me. I continued to search every nook and cranny. The search through my closet, under my bed, and even tearing up all of my drawers brought me no results. My heart fluttered faster and faster with each empty result as I realized that this thing had the jump on me. Whatever was in my room had been there for hopefully only a moment, and it had come and gone undetected except by the Pokédex. This creature was unnatural to say the least.

Having turned up nothing, I set Charizard's ball next to me as I settled down on the foot of my bed with the Pokédex. I took a few deep breaths, trying to return my heart rate back to normal after such a strange occurrence. I flipped the lid open to see what creature it had just discovered. Thankfully, the beeping stopped when I turned the machine's screen on. That, however, did raise even more alarms in my head, and my only recently calmed heart fluttered rapidly again. Everything about what was happening now was wrong. A malfunction would have required me to do some technical work or, at the very least, turned the machine completely off and back on. More questions than answers came up once I looked at the screen.

A new shadow was on the display—an unregistered Pokémon like I had seen so many times before. "But I caught them all, how is there another one?"I wondered out loud. I closed the face, then opened it again, half expecting the new entry to go away. When I looked at the screen again, I was stunned to still see the Pokémon still there. The anonymous form reminded me of smaller, less violent looking Mewtwo.

My mind began to race with too many questions and not enough possible answers. _How? Why? Where?_ were the words that summed up my plethora of thoughts perfectly. But, the most important question to me at the moment: _what?_ What was this new creature, this new one hundred and fifty-first Pokémon?

It was a phantom that I believed only existed due to my sleep deprived state, like some kind of nightmare. Something deep down inside of me, however, knew that this new Pokémon was real. Everything that had just occurred was very much real despite what I wanted to believe. This wasn't a dream like I so desperately craved it to be. I hadn't actually caught them all, and now I had to go face the press later that morning and claim that I really had. As I settled back into bed, I knew one thing was for certain about this whole ordeal.

I was a fraud.


End file.
